Meta to hide posts about suicide, eating disorders from teens' Instagram and Facebook feeds

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meta said Tuesday it volition commencement hiding inappropriate contented from teenagers' accounts connected Instagram and Facebook, including posts astir suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.

The societal media elephantine based successful Menlo Park, California, said successful a blog station that portion it already aims not to urge specified "age-inappropriate" worldly to teens, present it besides won't amusement it successful their feeds, adjacent if it is shared by an relationship they follow.

"We privation teens to person safe, age-appropriate experiences connected our apps," Meta said.

Teen users - provided they did not prevarication astir their property erstwhile they signed up for Instagram oregon Facebook - volition besides spot their accounts placed connected the astir restrictive settings connected the platforms, and they volition beryllium blocked from searching for presumption that mightiness beryllium harmful.

"Take the illustration of idiosyncratic posting astir their ongoing conflict with thoughts of self-harm. This is an important story, and tin assistance destigmatize these issues, but it's a analyzable taxable and isn't needfully suitable for each young people," Meta said. "Now, we'll commencement to region this benignant of contented from teens' experiences connected Instagram and Facebook, arsenic good arsenic different types of age-inappropriate content."

Meta's announcement comes arsenic the institution faces lawsuits from dozens of U.S. states that impeach it of harming young radical and contributing to the younker intelligence wellness situation by knowingly and deliberately designing features connected Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

Critics said Meta's moves don't spell acold enough.

"Today's announcement by Meta is yet different hopeless effort to debar regularisation and an unthinkable slap successful the look to parents who person mislaid their kids to online harms connected Instagram," said Josh Golin, enforcement manager of the children's online advocacy radical Fairplay. "If the institution is susceptible of hiding pro-suicide and eating upset content, wherefore person they waited until 2024 to denote these changes?"